Winches have been in common use for many years. In general, a long wire rope is attached at one end to a spool and the other end is fitted with a hook or other type of attachment. The hook is attached to an object that is to be moved and the spool is rotated to wind the rope onto the spool and thereby pull the object toward the spool.
Applications for the winch are numerous and the winches developed for these applications can be categorized in several respects. The present invention is directed specifically to a hydraulic actuated mobile winch, i.e. it is adapted for mounting onto a vehicle to be transported from place to place and maneuvered as required to control the direction of pull of the object. The hydraulic winches are capable of much greater pulling loads than are electric driven winches, a second broad category of powered mobile winches which are often mounted on road vehicles that do not provide a hydraulic power source and the application for which does not demand the higher pulling capabilities.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hydraulic powered mobile winch that is adapted for rapid connect and disconnect to a vehicle, specifically a "farm" tractor. Tractors contemplated herein originated on the farm and were used first to hitch onto and pull a number of different farm implements. Later it was used also as a power source to drive various stationary units such as pumps, grain elevators and the like. Hydraulic power was added to the tractor and its use expanded into "yard" use and can be now found at construction sites, golf courses and so on.
A significant development to the "farm" tractor in recent years is the hydraulic actuated three point hitch. Prior to the three point hitch, implements mounted to the tractor were of three general types, those implements that were adapted to be supported on the ground and pulled by the tractor, those elements that were adapted to be semi-permanently attached to the tractor (e.g. a fork lift) and those elements that were adapted to be hooked up to the tractors power source with the tractor in a stationary position (e.g. a grain elevator driven by the tractor's "power take off"). The three point hitch provides the advantage of rapid connection to a variety of formerly "pulled" field working implements (such as a plow) whereby the three points of connection coupled with hydraulic actuated lifting and lowering capabilities, allow the tractor to simply hitch onto the implement, pick it up, carry it to the field, and lower to a working height, all without the necessity of providing an undercarriage for the implement.